The Effectiveness of Sterilisation Process and Barrier Properties of Reusable Surgical Gown used in Zimbabwes Operation Theatres
Surgical gowns are meant to prevent the transmission of blood-borne pathogens between patients and the medical care givers2 In many nations, centres for disease control are tasked with the responsibility of introducing specified standards for the types of gowns that are to be used in operating theatres.However,Zimbabwe does not have a Medical Devices Control Authority such that even backyard industries are producing gowns that are being used in operating theatres.Even though many countries have adopted the use of disposable non-woven surgical gowns many African countries find the cost of these prohibitive and therefore resort to the use of woven, single layer re-usable gowns.This paper details the research carried out to determine the effectiveness of the washing and sterilisation process commonly used in Zimbabwe for rendering surgical gowns safe for reuse and the effectiveness of the gowns barrier properties with respect to the strike through and bacterial filtration efficiency (BFE) of treated and untreated surgical gowns.The results show that hot steam autoclaving at the stipulated standard temperature and pressure is adequate to render a surgical gown fit for re-use in the operating theatre.However, the strike through properties (1.88~2.36 s) and the BFE of untreated and treated surgical gowns of 19.2% and 35.56% respectively before washing indicate poor barrier properties.Therefore, these gowns are likely to expose health care professionals to risk of infection by blood-borne and body fluid pathogens.
sterilistion strike through bacteria filtration efficiency re-usable barrier
A.B Nyoni P.Katedza N Krishnasamy JV Murugar Jaikumar
National University of Science and Technology, Department of Textile Technology, PO Box AC 939 Ascot The South India Textile Research Association, Coimbatore, India
国际会议
2016 Sino-Africa International Symposium on Textiles and Apparel (SAISTA2016)(2016中非纺织服装国际论坛)
蒙巴萨
英文
300-306
2016-08-02（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）